Early last June, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Chinese diplomatic leader Wang Yi in an attempt to ease tension between the two countries. Unfortunately, if the US administration does not change its way of dealing, the mere meeting is unlikely to lead to an improvement in relations that have worsened so much between Washington and Beijing. To understand why, it is important to look at the US position over the past few years.
The United States has adopted a policy of confrontation with China on all fronts, as it sees any Chinese move as a threat to the United States, and has rejected anything related to reciprocity, and it has been setting standards and refusing to abide by it.
To gauge the rationality of American positions, the easiest way to start is by looking at how Americans see the rest of the world. Given that the United States does not have a special understanding of Beijing or its intentions, and if America is foreign to China to the degree that it deems it a threat to it, it is likely that this is due to domestic political reasons.
"Belt and Road" risks
The United States often sees Chinese aggression against countries themselves that view relations with Beijing more favorably. The United States tried to spread the missiles to East Asian countries that did not want these missiles. It tried to prevent the Chinese company, Huawei, from helping to spread the 5G communication and Internet system to other countries, claiming that it contains security threats, but it did not provide any concrete evidence to support its allegations. In short, the United States opposes China as a national security threat to countries that themselves see it differently. It opposes Chinese investments abroad that do not involve any risks or military threats or otherwise. And you can see this American targeting of China in America's way of dealing with the issue of nuclear arms control.
It is expected that the new "START" agreement related to nuclear arms control and joint inspections between Russia and the United States will end in 2021. Although Russia is interested in extending this agreement, the United States is not interested in that unless China joins it.
The reason for the existence of this agreement is mainly to place restrictions on the nuclear weapons that Russia and America possess, which possess more nuclear weapons than any other country in the world, as each of these two countries possesses about 6000 nuclear warheads, while China has only 300 nuclear warheads, That is, as much as France has, and therefore China refuses to join the agreement, and it is right on the grounds that its nuclear arsenal is not worth more than a fraction of the arsenals of Moscow and Washington.
During the Cold War, the two great powers of the Soviet Union and the United States were able to reach agreements on specific issues, including arms control and European borders. America was the most successful in these negotiations when it did not ask the Soviet Union to always submit to its desire for the nuclear race, or it tried to prevent economic and civil relations between the Soviet Union and the rest of the world.
But with China, the United States has now taken a different course. It chooses to look at things only through a loser or a winner, and there is no interest for both parties. This led to a lack of trust between it and China, and complicated the path towards reaching a diplomatic agreement. American officials were sending a message that the United States would work to harm China and reduce its influence in the world, instead of setting specific goals for their national interest.
The United States cannot adopt the stance of competition as a superpower, while at the same time trying to calm its relations with Beijing. Rather, it should discuss issues of mutual interest, and not push towards unnecessary hostilities.
Accordingly, it is unrealistic to expect Secretary Pompeo to achieve significant successes in his style of diplomacy. That is why the United States must find suitable opportunities to prepare for future summits, in which the two sides gradually discuss individual issues such as trade and armaments. The success of negotiations between the two countries in the future depends on whether the United States is prepared to relinquish the position of competition as a superpower, and sees itself in the eyes of others and understands the benefits of cooperation between countries.
Richard Hanania is a Columbia University researcher on war and peace
The United States has adopted a policy of confrontation with China on all fronts, as it now sees any Chinese move as a threat to the United States, and has rejected anything related to reciprocity, and it has been setting standards and refusing to adhere to it.